Niceties of the contract
by Veronica-Sudzuki
Summary: Ciel Phantomhive finds his butler's attitude unusual for demons. Sebastian Michaelis finds his master's attitude unusual for him. What is going to happen when someone puts his oar in their strange relationships?


**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. Yana Toboso is the only one who does.**

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><p>It was a typical foggy morning in Phantomhive estate. The day got started according to a plan everyone was accustomed to: as a semi-dark room of Ciel was lit with the first rays of sun, the butler of the family entered, carrying a tray with tea.<p>

"Good morning, Young Master," said Sebastian, approaching to a window, aiming to open the curtains.

"Morning…" he mumbled, rubbing his face against a pillow. It was one of those rare days when he thought he'd anything just to stay in bed for an hour or two, only the pride didn't allow him to. It wasn't just a laziness of the teenager; there was a reason behind such a mood: he had a dream that knocked his sideways. In that dream, the young earl was completely blind. In the darkness he was surrounded by, the boy felt completely lost and lonely. There wasn't his butler nearby and no matter how the scared boy was begging him to come — he was ignored. Then the lord was crying and screaming in awe when suddenly he felt familiar hands hug him from the back. The warmth spread throughout young master's body.

'_I go downhill._'

Still not wanting to get out from the bed, Ciel was lying there, watching his butler serving the tea. The boy watched man's stunning fingers pour hot water from a teapot into a china cup. It was a daily routine yet there was something charming about it. This sight made shivers run down his spine, like if those weren't the cups being touched by the man, but Ciel himself.

He's always liked devil's hands — white gloves made them look so gentle nevertheless the teenager knew how much people's blood there was on them. They were as artificial as the whole personality of the butler. The knowing of these outstanding acting skills made the lord Phantomhive be afraid of his own servant. Being near any hypocritical person is obviously dangerous; Ciel knew it because he himself belonged to this type. And it was way more dangerous, if this person was demon and your only close person in the whole entire world. The more lord was thinking about the more frightened and the more attracted to Sebastian he got. Although the devil would never know about, or at least Ciel thought so.

"Young master, are you okay? You don't look good today,'' Sebastian said, putting his hand on the lord's forehead. He pushed the hand away subconsciously, what surprised the butler.

"I'm fine, just had a bad dream."

"About that day again?" Michaelis asked with concern in his voice, meanwhile handing the young master a cup of tea.

"It doesn't matter."

Dressing up became a real torture for the Young Master. Moves of Sebastian seemed to be much slower than usually; accident touches, which also seemed to become more frequent, made chills run all over his body. The cheeks got red, and he started to breath heavily.

'_The Young Master is growing older,' _thought Sebastian, while buttoning the last button on a collar. A light smirk appeared on his lips and surely it wasn't left unnoticed by Ciel.

"Are you sure I shouldn't call the doctor, Young Master? Looks like you caught flu."

_'He's mocking, isn't he?'_

_"_I'm sure. Now I have plenty of deeds to do in my study. Bring me an apple pie with a chocolate glaze and powdered sugar by one p.m."

"Yes, my lord." He said obediently, leaving Ciel in his bedroom.

'_Finally I got rid of him.'_

_'Looked like he was trying to get rid of me.'_

As lord was finally left alone, he headed towards the study. Today he needed to clear a lot of things for himself.

The boy sat in a chair near a desk. In his hands he was holding a book written by one famous exorcist, which was bought by the rest of the servants meanwhile one of their rides to London. In this case devil didn't learn what sort of literature his master is interested in. Actually, Ciel knew what caused these unknown feelings to his butler. It's been quite a long time since young earl started reading about different kinds of demon, their powers and abilities. And what he managed to find out completely changed his attitude to the butler. In all of the books written by widely known exorcists and priests, these creatures were represented in a way, absolutely opposite from the one the earl could see during his daily life with Sebastian. Liars, scammers, jerks. If he could partly agree with the last statement, the rest of them have never seemed to even remotely resemble Michaelis. But in case all the books were written by people, who obviously have never had any kind of relationships with demons, lord Phantomhive didn't pay much attention to their point of view. However, the most recently bought book, the one he was attentively reading at the moment, hit him with a renewed force.

It had nothing in common with all the previous ones. It was a collection of diaries, gathered by the exorcist but written by people who made contracts with otherworldly forces. The further Ciel read the more astonished and confused he got.

_'As a conclusion to the book, I'd like to write a summary: Devils make long-term contracts only with people, whose souls are incredibly pure. Owners of them are in a group of a high risk. Most of the time, they're caught by demons in difficult periods of life. They're promised to be rewarded with money, happiness, love or whatever they need with a price of only one thing — their soul. However, as soon as a new contract is made, devil immediately breaks all the promises, only pretending to make a flurry activity, making a victim's soul suffer forever. From the very first day of the contract, until the end of the world, if it exists. **It doesn't depend** on the rank of one, the soul's purity or any other factor. They are who they are — dark, miserable creatures.'_

The last paragraph made Ciel freeze one more time.

'_If there're no rules, honor, honesty in that world, why does Sebastian follow them? Hoping that demon simply got attached to a human would be incredibly stupid.'_

Suddenly the earl was returned back to the reality by a knock on the door. He could recognize this type of knocking from thousands: confident, yet very gentle. The boy hurried and hid the book under a pile of papers.

"Come in."

The familiar silhouette appeared in front of the door.

"It's not 1 p.m. yet." The lord was trying to look as confident as always, what became hard for him lately. He avoided looking in butler's eyes, especially now, after the morning's accident; so now was looking through some random papers, which were easy to find on the desk.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you, Young Master, but a bellhop of Undertaker has just reported he asks you to come immediately."

"But,"

"It's urgent."

'_He's never interrupted me before.'_

"Prepare a cab."

"Yes, my lord."

As both servant (who was instead of a coachman) and master were riding in the cab, it was heavily raining outside. The thunder was heard from the distance, what was unusual for the end of November.

_'He should know something, looks disturbed or even annoyed.'_

When they approached to the Undertaker's Parlor, both of them left the cab not pronouncing a word. Sebastian opened the door for his master, letting him leave first, and then did the same to let him in the parlor.

"Oh, whom do I see? Is it the little Lord himself? He-he-he ~" a cracking voice was heard from the darkness. Then suddenly, a big candle was lit and the quests saw Undertaker sitting on a coffin and holding that candle.

"What do you want? You messed up all my plans for today, calling me here all of sudden."

"How rude of you, little Lord…" Undertaker said, making an offended face, "but I do know I have to hurry up. I have a very especial present for you today, and I want to handle it as soon as possible. Take a place here, please," he stated pointing on another coffin in front of him.

Ciel accepted the offer, hoping the coffin was at least empty. The butler, as always, stayed behind the master.

"So…little Lord, I've got some information recently. I've never thought my earl would sell both his soul and body to such a miserable creature as a highly-ranked devil.

Ciel only opened his mouth in astonishment. He couldn't say a word. If he saw his butler now, he'd notice anger, appearing with fire in his eyes. In this time, Undertaker stood up and approached toward Young Master.

"And do you know that highly-ranked creatures of hell are even nastier than low ones?" He touched boy's cheek with a long black nail. "More sinful, dishonest..." the man continued, touching the earl's hair, "as they've mastered in lying…he-he~"

"Sebastian NEVER lies to me!" he shouted, rising on his feet and pushing away Undertaker's hand, when he felt a warm hand rest on his shoulder from behind. It made the boy calm down a bit.

"You wish he didn't… But let's stop this meaningless arguing and come to terms. I give you my present, you use it. Isn't it a good offer? Especially for you."

After these words, Undertaker put off an old-looking, shabby book. He shook the dust off of it and handed it to Ciel.

"Now, I need your "servant" to leave for a while. So you can get acquainted with some pages, _without _a third person."

"Why should I do this? Sebastian is _my_ butler and he must be nearby in case I need him."

"You won't need him, I promise."

Ciel glanced at Sebastian and the older man made an understanding node, leaving the room immediately. Not saying anything else, Ciel took the book, and started looking through the pages. Odd symbols, pictures of scary looking creatures, columns of letters, which looked like prayers. Undertaker got closer, and opened a necessary page.

"Here, Young Lord, read. Aloud, please." He said with a smirk.

"If a contract is made by a mistake,

You have another chance to take.

Start hating him, be enemies —

And he'll fall right on his knees.

But if you love him, like a friend —

Your suffering will never end…"

After Ciel read it, Undertaker clapped his hands in excitement. The Lord looked at him, feeling a lump in his throat.

"How did you know?"

"I know everything. And I can help you get rid of this disgusting creature in your life. You can destroy the contract. Only one spell and you're free." He said, taking off the boys eye patch.

"I've never seen any creature, more disgusting than people. Demon was the only one who saved me. The only one taking care of me after parents' death. And I'm not going to betray him. Se-…" His mouth was covered with undertaker's hand.

"Shhh. .. It's not the end. I want to show you something else."

Suddenly he was surrounded by pictures of dead people — the people, who were killed by his pawn. All of them were screaming, begging for help. The boy couldn't feel Undertaker's presence anymore; he could only hear the voice. They were trying to reach the boy's pentagram, to touch him, they were blaming him.

"You see, you could have revenged for your parents in some other ways, which didn't require so many deaths. But in some ways, it is useful for your butler, to kill people, following your will. The more you kill —the more frightened you get. No matter how hard you try to deny it, it's true. And the more scared you're the less a chance you will ever terminate the contract. Now you wholly depend on him. You're nobody without him. But I can help you."

The vision of dead people disappeared but now he saw all his memories, starting from the moment his parents dead and until the present moment. Now, as never before, he needed Sebastian. But he couldn't pronounce a word. Undertaker appeared, holding big scissors.

"Just one spell, we destroy the contract, and then we just cut some of your memories, which don't allow you live a normal teenage life. I know you want to ask what for I need this. The deal is that your soul is perfect. And the devil has a good taste, it's true. But if your soul goes to heaven it may destroy half of devils, which now exist, and interfere in our, shinigami's, work."

Ciel felt like in that bad dream, where he was alone and frustrated, begging Sebastian to come. But in the end familiar beloved hands finally wrapped him in a warm hug. He wondered if it was supposed to happen in the reality. Undertaker was about to cut out a piece, where Ciel makes a contract, when suddenly, like if hearing the boy's thoughts, where the boy was begging him to come, the devil opened the door with a spurt.

"Don't you dare do anything to his memory without a permission!"

"If he learns what you're aiming to do with him, the boy will be praying for me to make him forget about everything."

Still not being able to talk, the Lord starched out his hand toward the demon. The man approached and took the boy on his hands.

"Your game is over."

"Hey, hold on. Ask you Master if he wants this "game" to be over. If he orders — you can go. But you know, he has a right to terminate the contract if he realizes the mistake, don't you?"

Ciel looked right in the eyes of Sebastian, trying to make him understand he wants to leave as soon as possible. Sebastian didn't know Undertaker stopped the ability of the Lord to talk. After a one-minute silence, the butler sighed.

"Tell him what you need and we will go."

The boy wrapped his hands around Sebastian's neck, hiding the face from Undertaker.

"_What's going on?!"_

_"As far as I know, the Young Master wanted to know, why his devil has such a very special attitude to him. So, I want to answer this question."_

Ciel was trying to pretend he wasn't interested in what Undertaker was about to tell him, but in fact he was listening attentively. He felt the butler's hand gently caress his back.

'No matter what happens, I'll never abandon you, Sebastian…'

Waltzing around the room, Undertaker started his speech.

"So, as soon as the revenge is over, what is about to happen, may be in a couple of days, your lovey-dovey devil isn't going to devour your soul. He is going to eat it very slowly, exhausting your body, and you'll not be even dying, this torture will happen over and over again, like nine circles of hell…hehehe~"

The man snapped his fingers, returning the boy's ability to talk.

"Now, little Lord, make up your mind…"

"Let's go home…"

Clenching Sebastian's coat, Ciel whispered.

"Yes, my Lord."

As Sebastian was carrying his Lord to the estate, over fields, forests, villages, they didn't say a word to each other. Both were thinking about things, they were to tell each other.

Sitting on his luxurious bed, Ciel was waiting for the butler to hand him a cup of warm milk with honey.

"Sebastian."

"Yes, Young Master?"

"Is it true? What Undertaker said, I mean," Ciel asked, sipping his milk.

Butler's face darkened.

"Are you sure you want to know?"

"I'm not going to abandon you anyway," the boy said, with his cheeks lightly blush, what made the butler smirk.

"It was true."

"What did he mean by saying you'll be exhausting my body?"

Unexpectedly, Sebastian bent to Ciel and whispered in a seductive voice, the earl has never heard before.

"What would you like it to mean, my Lord?"

It made the boy shake a bit.

"Do you think I didn't notice the changes in you, which happened lately? Don't be embarrassed, the feelings you have to me now, change conditions of the contract, "he said, caressing the boy's face. Ciel was trying not to look into Sebastian's eyes again.

"Wh..what do you mean?"

"There's a little spell for that. You just have to say three magical words which will turn suffering in enjoyment."

The Butler was approaching, taking place of the Master's bed.

'_He's never set on my bed before.'_

"What three words?"

"Guess. You're the Queen's watchdog; you managed to solve problems, much more tricky than this one."

"I can't do that!"

"Well, than I can't help you." Sebastian said with a smirk, Ciel didn't notice. He started rising on his feet, when felt that the Lord was attempting to stop him by clenching a sleeve of a shirt.

" I…love you." He whispered, hiding the eyes from Sebastian.

"It's late, Young Master. You have to sleep." He put out the candle and headed toward the door.

"Wait… May you stay here tonight?" was heard from somewhere under a blanket.

Ciel fell asleep, being embraced with a tight hug of Sebastian. For the first time since his parents' death the boy felt someone this close. He didn't care how much he'd have to suffer, he'd to anything for the devil, who gave him things, he wouldn't have ever got from people. Although it was meaningless, as Sebastian promised himself to make a little heaven in hell, for this very special soul.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading this fanfic ^^ This is the first time I publish a fanfic in English, it's not my native language, so sorry about the quality of writing xD Please review, point my mistakes, the next time I'll write better C:<strong>


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